Workers discover body in condemned Alton home

ALTON — Three men from a demolition company who went to clear out a derelict house Tuesday were shocked to discover an apparently long-dead body in the basement.

One of the workers, from Crossroads Construction Services Inc. of Wentzville, Mo., called police at about 9 a.m. to report their grisly find, in the lower level of 1708 Maupin Ave.

None of the men would discuss what happened or what they saw with a Telegraph reporter, the only media at the scene before the trio left to give statements at the Alton Police Department.

Lt. Scott Golike, chief of detectives at the Alton Police Department, said the investigation still is in its early stages.

At that point, Golike said he did not know identity of the body and could not initially confirm if the corpse is of a man or woman. About an hour after the discovery, police were awaiting arrival of a Madison County Coroner’s Office deputy and Illinois State Police crime scene investigators.

“It does not appear to be fresh,” Golike said of the body. When asked if the death appeared to be from natural causes, a drug overdose or a homicide, he confirmed it seems to be “suspicious.”

“I don’t like the looks of it,” he said, leaning toward homicide.

The vacant, white bungalow with a partially caved-in roof over a small dormer is condemned. The basement is accessible via a green wooden door on its south side, through which a string of detectives and patrol officers walked in and out during the outset of the investigation.

Police strung yellow caution tape from the front porch south to a tree, then down a slope in the side yard to delineate the area outside of the open wooden door. Interior of the basement was not visible from the street, blocked by the door.

Monday night, the aldermanic Committee of the Whole just had recommended the City Council proceed with legal action to effect demolition of the 1,466-square-foot house. The resolution comes back for vote at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

According to information at the Alton Township Assessor’s Office, owners are listed as Clarence Graves Jr. and John M. Graves and the house had market value of $29,370.

Maupin is located about three blocks east of Central Avenue; just south of Milnor Street and about three blocks south of College Avenue.

In an unusual, likely coincidence, Tuesday’s discovery of a body that had been dead for an extended period of time is the second such case in four months in Alton.

On Aug. 5, a mother called police after checking out her child’s report of a partially wrapped corpse inside the rear of a Mitsubishi Galant in which its rear seat had been removed. The car was parked under a garage carport in the 2700 block of Powhattan Street.

Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons previously said that children in the neighborhood had known about that body “for some time,” without specifying how long, and had told their parents. For unknown reasons, the parents either were not compelled to check out their children’s reports, call police or perhaps just not believe their account, he said.

Simmons told the Telegraph several times that authorities have an idea as to possible identity of that man’s body, but investigators still have not confirmed it as they needed to obtain and examine dental records and get results of DNA tests.

Forensic anthropologists at the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office are conducting the investigation of those remains.